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Friday, June 15, 2012

GBBD -How Can It Be June Already?

Decisions decisions....

I know you are looking at the picture above and wondering what you are looking at AND why is this on the Garden Blogger's Bloom Day. The green plant on the left is a volunteer...a vigorous growing volunteer. A volunteer I hadn't seen since we lived in Virginia. It is a Passion vine. Passiflora incarnata. See the white twist tie? And the dark 'stick' going up through the middle of it? THAT was a Sassafras tree sapling (Sassafras albidum). I planted it (along with a lot of other saplings) last December. Sadly I knew this Sassafras stem was not alive, it was given the scratch test a couple months ago. This is a test where you scratch the stem, peeling back a little bit of the bark, if you see green, it is still alive. I did not see green, it was brown....dead. I did another test, pulled it a little bit, and whatever was below ground held fast. I left it alone. Crossed my fingers. Talked to it as I walked by. Let's look at the above photo again. At the base of the dark dead stem are green leaves!!!! Yes, I have a small Sassafras emerging from the roots!

So now it was decision time. Passion flower vine is a native, host to Gulf Fritillary and many other butterflies. Knowing how strong the root system of the Passion vine is, I decided to dig up the vine and move it away from the tiny tree. Even if the vine doesn't survive, I know the root system is still there. There will be another one popping up nearby.

For now, I am thrilled to have this great native tree, small but alive!

Let's get on with Garden Blogger's Bloom Day. I have had an explosion of color in the backyard. Hooray!

Karin from Southern Meadows shared a Sunshine Award with me. I am going to fudge a little, I will answer the questions, but instead of sharing it with five other bloggers, I am opening it up to my followers. If you would like to share a little Sunshine, please do!

Clearwing enjoying a Monarda

Karin lives pretty close to me across the state line in Georgia. I hope sometime this summer we can get together. It was great meeting fellow bloggers at the Fling, want to continue the fun!

Unnamed White Phlox

Part of the Sunshine Award is to answer some questions about yourself.

5. Facebook or Twitter-- I play on Facebook more than Twitter.
6. My passion-- Gardening, photography, and enjoying our slice of heaven.

Gladiolus

7. Getting or giving presents-- I love it when we come up with a great idea for a gift. Some are hits and some are misses.
8. Favorite pattern-- As I write this I have on a polka dots t-shirt. I really have no favorite.

Hibiscus moscheutos 'Kopper King' eaten by small caterpillars

9. Favorite day of the week-- Since Charlie has retired neither of us know what day of the week it is!!
10. Favorite flower-- Oh, I am so fickle! Whatever is blooming currently is the center of my attention. Right now some of the oriental lilies are about to open.....new fav!

View across the garden, where the washout was last month. Still need to do some
rocks and mulch to repair the open soil spots.

One of the best things about blooms is bringing them inside to enjoy them a little longer.

Be sure to stop over to Carol's blog, May Dreams Gardens to see all the other Bloom Day posts. It was great to meet Carol at the Fling. Super having faces to go along with names!!

34 comments:

Janet, that Blackberry lily is a stunner! I'm so happy for you that you'll have a sassafras--what a trickster--and I love passion flower vines. They're tricky to propagate from seed, but I managed to grow a couple this year. I hope they survive the summer! Your bouquet is lovely--isn't that such a nice reward for all of the work in the garden? Happy bloom day to you!

So glad to hear your sassafras survived. We've had similar circumstances with some of our trees where the tops have died. It's amazing how strong the root structure can be even when you think all is lost.

You reminded me that my phlox 'Robert Poore' is no more. It was an incredible phlox for several years, but it disappeared. I've now switched over to 'David' as my 'go to' phlox, though 'Nikki' has just started to bloom.

I had to laugh about your favorite day of the week! It's true about not knowing what day it is when retired. I must confess that one of the reasons why I don't join the blog memes is because of schedules. I spent 32 years attending scheduled meetings and the thought of having to meet a scheduled deadline for blog posts just makes me cringe!

What a beautiful bouquet, Janet! Lots of lovely blooms in your garden. I'm glad your sassafras survived, and thanks for the reminder about the scratch test. I received some baby trees this spring, and most of them now look dead. But I'll try the scratch test before sending any of them to the big compost heap in the sky.

How many years does it take a blackberry lily to bloom if your started it from seed. This is it's 2nd year.....your bouquet is beautiful.... I don't really do favorites either....too hormonal I think, lol. That phlox looks like David.

Hi Janet, good luck with your Sassafras albidum tree, I hope it will grow for you! Lots of nice blooms that you have in the garden right now. I especially love the phlox and the orange gladiolus. Wow, you saved the best for the last: That bouquet is sooo.... beautiful! You certainly don't need to go to the florist.Christina

Yes to whatever is in bloom. I do love toad lilies.. Also, passion vine is hard to get to grow here, and it doesn't want to bloom much. Rather frustrating really, but I keep trying. I'm so glad you have your little tree. It always seems like a miracle when that happens. Happy Bloom Day!

Dee, I tried toad lilies, think the slugs got them. I had a rather aggressive Passion vine in Virginia, so am not worried about it showing up somewhere else in the garden. I am happy my tree is alive...now to keep it alive through the summer!

Your garden is beautiful. I have a calistimon that keeps dieing on me and then resurrecting itself. Very strange. Good thing you moved the passion fruit because as lovely as they are they take over everything around them and your tree wouldn't have a chance to recover.

I love that you brought some blooms inside. I never do that and really should. Hurray for your volunteer passionvine! Mine is so slow growing and the caterpillars always eat it down before it gets very big. Lets definitely plan to meet up sometime this summer.

Hi Janet, Do you know what I count as one of my greatest faults? Giving up too easily (on myself and other things as well). Your Sassafras success story is a great example of having patience. I am also way too impatient! Hope the passion vine works out too. They are most intriguing flowers!

I had passion flower when I lived in SC, too. I can't believe your phlox is already blooming! Congrats on the sassafras. It's always exciting when a plant we think is dead surprises us with new growth. :o)

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